TESTED: Sierra .22 Caliber 77 Grain MatchKing

Sierra’s MatchKing line has long been a favorite of competitive shooters seeking precision and performance. We’ve had great success with Sierra’s MatchKing line here at Ultimate Reloader and are testing Sierra’s flagship .22 Caliber 77 Grain HPBT in three different .22 caliber rifle builds!

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About the Sierra .22 Caliber 77 Grain HPBT MatchKing

Designed for .223 Service Rifle competition, the 77 SMK (Sierra MatchKing) has won innumerable championships and is ideal for precision .223 out of an AR-15.

We decided to use this match bullet in our custom .22 caliber bolt-action rifles!

From Sierra:

Designed for Service Rifle competition in the M16A2/AR-15A2, our 22 caliber bullets have set an incredible number of new national records. The 77 grain #9377 MatchKing® allows seating to an OAL that permits cartridges to be loaded into M16/AR15 magazines. While they are recognized around the world for record-setting accuracy, MatchKing® and Tipped MatchKing® bullets are not recommended for most hunting applications. Although MatchKing® and Tipped MatchKing® bullets are commonly used for varmint hunting, their design will not provide the same reliable explosive expansion at equivalent velocities in varmints compared to their lightly jacketed Hornet, Blitz or Varminter counterparts. The #9377 bullet is available in a cannelured version in box sizes of 500 (#9377G) or 50 (#9377GT). This bullet requires a barrel twist rate of 1×8” or faster.

A G1 BC of 0.372 and G7 BC of 0.182 make this bullet a promising long range choice.

The Rifles

I took a few moments to count exactly how many .22 bolt guns I have built on the channel. By built I mean chambered, put together, and sometimes Cerakoted.

I’ve built a .22-250, .224 Valkyrie, .223 Remington, two .22 Creedmoors, two .22 ARCs, and a 22 GT. To test Sierra’s 77 Grain SMK, I decided to use a .223 Remington, .22 Creedmoor, and .22 ARC — all .22 calibers with three different bolt faces.

My .223 trainer is centered around a BAT TR action and has long been one of if not my most accurate rifles.

The .22 Creedmoor features a Stiller Predator Action with .308 bolt face, 1:8 Benchmark barrel, and Bix’n Andy competition trigger in a Foundation Centurion stock with Hawkins Precision M5 DBM.

The .22 ARC is built around a 6-lug Pristine short action with 0.445” bolt face, Ballistic Advantage 1:7 .22 caliber heavy contour barrel, and Bix’n Andy TacSport Pro-X Trigger from Bullet Central. Just like the .22 Creedmoor, this barreled action sits in a Foundation Centurion stock with Hawkins M5 DBM

Load Data and Results

I started testing with the .22 Creedmoor, using 39.0 grains of H4350 under the Sierra 77 Grain SMK.

Sierra Bullets recommends using a barrel with a twist rate of 1:8 or faster for this bullet. Remember that with a .22 Creedmoor, going faster than 1:8 can compromise bullet integrity.

At 100 yards my five-shot group measured 0.456”. Rifles have a different tune with a bare muzzle, a muzzle brake, and a suppressor. One trend we have noticed at Ultimate Reloader is that precision tends to increase as we move from a brake to a suppressor. The .22 Creedmoor group with Area 419 Maverick suppressor was about half of the size of the group with the Hellfire brake.

Secondly, I tested .22 ARC, loading the 77 grain SMK over multiple charge weights of Hodgdon’s Varget.

26.7 grains had the greatest precision with a three-shot 100-yard group measuring 0.290”.

Lastly, moving to the caliber the Sierra 77 was designed for, I tested multiple charge weights of Varget in Lapua .223 cases.

Seating Sierra 77 Gr. MatchKings on the Area 419 ZERO Press Gen 2

I loaded these rounds on the new Area 419 Gen 2 ZERO press.

23.5 grains yielded the best results with a 0.373” five-shot group at 100 yards.

This load had an average velocity of 2770 fps and 12.7 fps standard deviation.

Lab Results

To assess the consistency of the bullets, I selected a random sample of ten from a box of 500.

I first measured the diameter using a Mitutoyo micrometer.

The average diameter was 0.22365” with a standard deviation of 0.00006”! This may be the best bullet diameter SD I’ve ever measured.

Hollow point bullets have non-uniform points. They were not pointed and thereby not as consistent. The average length was 0.99623” with an SD of 0.00453”. This really is not a concern unless you are shooting benchrest.

I also weighed them on an A&D FX-120i Precision Balance with an average weight of 77.154 grains. The standard deviation was extremely tight at 0.02503 grains.